An Abuja-based lawyer, Ogboi Anthony Enahoro has presented a book to the public on ways to reduce delays and technicalities in trial of court cases in Nigeria.
The book is titled, “For The Open Court: The Letters Of The Law Of The Documents In Nigeria.”
In an interaction with journalists after the event, Enahoro, who is the principal partner at OAU Enahoro & Associates, Abuja, said the continued delays in the handling of cases in the court arises largely from objections, counter-objections, rulings and adjournments in Nigerian courts.
Enahoro said he had been disturbed over the time that a case that would have been concluded within a short period would last in court for several years.
He said, “Sometimes, a court will adjourn for the purpose of whether or not to admit a piece of evidence just because that document happens to be a public one and the question would be if it had been certified, or this document ought not to be admissible, except certified. All these technicalities about certification and all that, leaving the substance of the matter in dispute between the parties should be stopped.”
To address the trend, Enahoro said even though it is not there in the rules of the court and also in the Evidence Act, individual judges, who are masters of their courts, could decide to make rules, saying after all, the practice of the court is the law of the court.
Still frowning at the system of objections and technicalities in the court, he said there were cases that had lasted for either 15 or 25 years and lamented that delays in proceedings and unnecessary objections in court cost a lot to the judges and the litigants.
He therefore advised the bar and the bench to play down on technicalities for substantial issues.
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